Assessment of engineering qualifications by Engineers Australia

Assessment of engineering qualifications for migration purposes by the Institution of Engineers (Engineers Australia).

Something confusing to migrants is that the assessments of qualifications for eligibility for migration visas and for membership of Engineers Australia are made separately. It is possible to be accepted for immigration and refused membership of Engineers Australia. The reverse also applies. It is possible to be accepted for membership of Engineers Australia and not be accepted for a skilled migration visa.

The Institution of Engineers Australia, known as Engineers Australia, is the peak body for engineers in Australia, with more than 80,000 members. It is the national forum for the advancement of engineering and professional development of engineers. It accredits engineering courses, operates programs of continuing education and professional development, maintains a vigorous publishing and conference program, and involves itself in debate on national and community issues.

Skills assessment

Engineers Australia is the designated authority to assess professional and para-professional qualifications in engineering for the purposes of skilled migration to Australia.

The two pathways to recognition of your qualifications with Engineers Australia are:

Recognition is the process of determining if the course you have completed at an overseas institution is equivalent to an Australian four-year engineering course. If your engineering qualifications are not recognised through any accredited course with one of the signatory bodies, you may seek recognition through a competency assessment process.

The Competency Demonstration Report gives you the opportunity to establish that your engineering knowledge and competencies are equivalent to those of the appropriate occupational category within Australian engineering. You can detail work and training you have done to establish that you have the skills and knowledge equivalent to an engineer with Australian qualifications. The Migration Skills Assessment Kit, available from the Engineers Australia website guides you in determining your occupational category and preparing your CDR submission.

To check a course is accredited, you need to know the university, particular course, and the years the course started and finished. You have to do this yourself as part of preparing your application for migration skills assessment to Engineers Australia. Information on both the Washington and Sydney Accords and the lists of accredited programs can be sourced from the following website: http://www.washingtonaccord.org/

Sydney Accord signatories (for Engineering Technologists or incorporated Engineers) are Australia, Canada, Hong Kong China, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. United States holds provisional status at time of writing.

If you live in Australia, the state or territory Overseas Qualifications Unit (OQU) has educational assessment advice about overseas qualifications for free or a small fee. Applicants must be in Australia; you cannot have a contact in Australia make an application on your behalf if you are overseas. The Overseas Qualifications Unit’s addresses are available from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website: www.immi.gov.au/asri/os-qual-units.htm

An OQU or AEI-NOOSR assessment may tell you that you have engineering qualifications that are academically comparable to a qualification in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), however your qualifications may not be accepted for you to practice as a professional engineer in Australia. Professional recognition of engineers is solely assessed by Engineers Australia.

The bottom line:

An OQU or AEI-NOOSR assessment has no useful value for engineering qualifications.

Wait until you are in Australia to apply for membership of Engineers Australia.

For migration, get a Migration Skills Assessment Kit, available from the Engineers Australia website to make application for assessment of your qualifications for skilled migration to Australia.